Sulaiman Al Fahim's ownership of Portsmouth has been cast into further doubt after it emerged a rival consortium has paid the players' wages.

Sportsmail understands Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie has ridden to the rescue by using his relationship with Ali al-Faraj to broker a deal which will see the Saudi property magnate pump £5million into the beleaguered south-coast club.

Storrie's bid to gain control of the club with the backing of al-Faraj was gazumped at the 11th hour when former owner Alexandre Gaydamak plumped for Al Fahim.

He has since promised to inject £50m into Portsmouth but if that money is not forthcoming soon, the club could face a similar wages shortfall at the end of this month. The Premier League are monitoring the situation.

Share this article

Share

Speaking yesterday, Storrie, who was on the verge of walking out last week, admitted the club has 'no money left' and is surviving on a hand-to-mouth basis. 'All the money from all the player transfers and the Sky TV money, all of the £35m from January, has gone straight to the Standard Bank,' said Storrie. 'There is no money left.'

A statement by Portsmouth directors - Storrie, Roberto Avondo and Tanya Robins - hinted at the arrangement with al-Faraj and also placed the onus on securing the club's future firmly at the door of Al Fahim.

It read: 'It is very disappointing to all of us that the players have for the first time had to wait for their remuneration for reasons entirely outside the club's control.

'It is through the joint efforts of the executive directors that we are in the final stages of securing funding that will allow the club to meet these obligations. It is clear that to ensure the club is able to secure its longer term future, a more permanent financing solution needs to be found quickly.

At the eye of the storm: the daily struggle just to get a team on the
training ground is taking its toll on manager Paul Hart

'The extent to which the gains that have been realised from player sales were retained by the club's previous banking partner during a protracted takeover period creates a responsibility for the new ownership, one which we are committed to help resolve.

'Ultimately the responsibility to deliver remains with the owner.' Storrie also conceded he has no idea what strings are attached to the £50m Al Fahim has promised to invest to keep the club afloat. He said: 'Al Fahim has promised to at the right time re-finance and he has shown me the documentation, but I've no idea about conditions of the £50m he says will be arriving in a few weeks. We need to re-finance, it's as simple as that.'

Hinting the al-Faraj consortium could be ready to buy-out Al Fahim if he is unable to provide necessary funds, Storrie added: 'I've no idea of the timescale about how long this can go on.

'I don't want to frighten people. I am sure that if the re-financing that has been promised fails for some reason, there will be other people ready to step in.'

Portsmouth were unavailable for comment last night regarding al-Faraj's financial help but have promised that the first-team players and executive board members will get their money in the next 24 hours. Having originally dismissed the problem as 'a payroll issue' the club were forced to admit yesterday that the reason for the delay was because they simply did not have the funds.

A club statement read: 'The executive board will continue to help the new owner in his efforts to refinance which is a direct consequence of the banks' requirements to retain all television receipts and profits generated [through] transfers.'

With Portsmouth becoming the first Premier League club to remain pointless after their first seven games, under-pressure manager Paul Hart is valiantly trying to keep his players focused on tomorrow's trip to Wolves.

He said: 'It's been explained to the players in a meeting that they will receive the money by Friday at the latest and the players were happy with that explanation and got on with their jobs as if nothing had happened.'